Wish for Something Different
by hatorispring
Summary: So basically a girl gets transported into the book, tries to prevent a murder, falls in love, blah blah blah. i'm awful at summaries, but it's a good story so PLEASE R&R!
1. Where am I?

Disclaimer: I don't own _The Outsiders_ or any of its affiliates. That'd be cool if I did though. I love that book! The movie wasn't so great.

A/N: I know I haven't finished my Furuba stuff yet, but I couldn't help it. I read _The Outsiders_ for the millionth time last month and I just had to write about it! Haha, well anyway, I hope you enjoy! And don't flame, but DO REVIEW!

It all started out fairly normally. I was just walking down the street one day, suitcase in hand, waiting for the bus that would take me directly to Seattle. I took out my favorite book of all time from my purse: _The Outsiders_. I loved that book. I loved the characters in the book. I found I could always relate to Ponyboy, no matter what situation I was in in my life. The bus pulled up as I opened it to the first page. I stepped up on the bus and read the first three words. Suddenly, the world began to spin.

Everything was black. All kinds of weird sounds were going on around me. Pirates shouting, parrots cawing, roosters crowing, an opera star singing, crash, booms, and bangs. Gunshots, the shouts of "Yee-haw!" and the thumping of horse hooves. The sound of china chinking together, and finally the sound of nothing. I could feel my feet on something solid again. Unfortunately, I was no longer holding my suitcase or my book. I was positive that the bus driver and the occupants on the bus must have thought that I was acting quite strangely. I giggled a little, and opened my eyes, fully expecting to see a befuddled bus driver.

"Uh, ma'am?"

It was not the bus driver. No, it was a boy about my height, with sandy blonde hair and blue-green eyes. He looked a lot the way I would have imagined Ponyboy to look. But that was crazy. He must be getting on the bus too, and wondering where my suitcase, purse, and book had gone, just as I was wondering.

"Ma'am, are you okay?"

I looked around, ignoring the boy. Where was the bus? Where were the people? There was no one around. No one. Just the boy, a movie theater with a fifties theme, and cracked sidewalk.

"Ma'am?"

I looked at the boy again. "I'm fine. Where's the bus depot?"

"Bus depot?" He looked thoroughly confused.

I was feeling impatience and a little bit of fear begin to creep up from the pit of my stomach. "Yes," I said slowly. "The bus depot."

"The bus depot is way down there. And how did you get here all of a sudden?"

I shook my head. "No, no I was just at the bus depot. I had a suitcase, and a book, and a purse…and…and…I was going to Seattle!" I was really starting to feel afraid now, spinning around in circles trying to find the bus.

A blue Corvair started pulling up beside us. There were about five boys in there, all dressed very nicely for a Saturday afternoon. They whistled and asked Ponyboy how a greaser like him had picked up such a pretty dame.

"Excuse me?" I asked. The fear was still definitely there, but a huge wave of indignation and anger had swept it away.

The boys sniggered and drove away. One leaned out the window and called out something I won't write down.

I looked back at the boy. He was blushing and his ears looked like they were about to start steaming they were so red.

"Calm down. I live in Seattle. I've heard worse." I was pretty angry myself, but he didn't seem angry, just embarrassed.

"They shouldn't talk to ladies like that," he mumbled. I was a little taken aback. He had called me a lady. No one had called me a lady since my kindergarten teacher had said, "Take that play-dough out of your mouth this instant young lady!"

"Anyway," he continued, looking up at me. His face had returned to its normal color, but his ears were still burning. "My name's Ponyboy Curtis."

Disbelief made everything seem a lot slower. "What?" I said. The word seemed to take a month to get out of my mouth. "What did you say?"

"My name is Ponyboy Curtis."

"That's impossible."

It was the boy's turn to look indignant. "Look, it's what my parents named me okay? And don't give me any grief about it. I happen to like my name."

"Yeah, I like the name of the _fictional_ book character too. But that person is _fictional_." He just continued to look at me as though I were speaking German. "Fiction!" I yelled. "Fiction!" He just shrugged and started to walk away. I just shook my head and caught up to him.

"So where are we, _Ponyboy_?" I had decided someone must have been playing a trick on me.

"South east." I just laughed. We were no where near the southeast. But if I laughed at this absurd joke, maybe it would end quicker. Sally was always trying to pull stuff like this on me. Of course, she'd never been able to do anything this elaborate. The sounds when I was still spinning and in black (how did she manage that?) were very good. And this person really did look like the person S.E. Hinton had described in her book.

"Well, where are we going?"

He looked at me strangely. Apparently he hadn't been aware I was going to follow him until he led me back to the bus depot so I could finally confront Sally about this. It was so not cool to take away my purse, with _all_ of my money in it except for the twenty in my pocket, and my suitcase, and my favorite book. Even if she was trying to put me in my favorite book, it still wasn't cool.

"_I_ am going home." He continued walking.

Suddenly, the fear was coming back. It crept up my spine like cold water. "What year is it Ponyboy?"

Again he looked at me like I must be a lunatic. "1960."

The fear had now reached an escalating pitch. Now there were whoops, and the sound of male voices coming near us. I looked away from "Ponyboy" and saw five other boys walking toward us.

The one in the lead was big. Not fat big, but he was incredibly built, with a short crew cut. The one right next to him was about as tall as the boy next to me, and so handsome I couldn't help the little giggly feeling I felt building up in my chest. Behind them were three other boys. One was really dark, with black hair falling in his black eyes. The other one also had dark hair that was greased into complicated swirls. The one next to him had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and blonde, almost platinum, hair that wasn't greased like the other boys'. They were all wearing clothes from the fifties. This was so weird. And Sally certainly couldn't afford to pay all of the boys to wear these clothes and act like gang members. Could she? No. And she wouldn't go to all this trouble anyway. So what was the deal?

"Hey Pony," said the one that looked like a Grecian god. "Who's the girl?"

I giggled. I quickly stifled it. I was not going to make a fool of myself in front of these thugs that Sally had paid to scare me.

"My name is Sassy. Well, my real name is Sarah Winters, but everyone calls me Sassy." Was I babbling? I made my face behave, and not start blushing.

"Okay," the big one said kind of slowly. "Well, I'm Darrel Curtis, and this is my younger brother Sodapop Curtis. Ponyboy is also my brother."

"Yeah," I said and started laughing. "And I'm really in the year 1960. What is this? Did Sally put y'all up to this?" So far, all I was getting was confused stares. But I didn't care. The fear inside me was so bad now I felt like I was going to wet my pants. Where was I? Who were these people? Then a sudden calm settled over me. Of course! Why hadn't I thought of it before? Sally didn't have enough money to put anyone up to this kind of thing. And why would she want to? I was having some kind of nervous breakdown, and reading _The Outsiders_ had triggered this kind of delusion! It was a pretty vivid delusion though. Maybe I was already on the bus and I was dreaming. Whatever it was, I felt safe in knowing that it wasn't real. "Okay, okay, I know what it is now. I'm having a nervous breakdown," I informed them.

The big one took a step closer. I felt no fear now, because he couldn't hurt me. Delusions couldn't hurt you!

"Listen, this isn't a nervous breakdown," he said slowly, as though I were some kind of imbecile. "Or maybe you are having one, but I can assure you this is quite real."

"No…." I said. Then I remembered all the stories and movies where this kind of thing had happened. And as I watched I had always longed for the opportunity to come to some kind of imaginary place like this. But if I had known how terrifying it would have been, maybe I wouldn't have wished for it so hard. But because I had, I was now in a serious pickle. Again, everything went black. But there were no strange sound effects anymore, and the world wasn't spinning. No, colors were just too bright and why was the pavement going up so fast?


	2. Waking Up

Disclaimer: Still don't own The Outsiders.

A/N: Thank you all so much! That was the quickest I have _ever_ gotten reviews and they were all great! Thanks for taking time to read my story and for being so nice to it. Well, anyway, just so you all know, this _is_ real. She's not imagining it. And I might make a mistake on descriptions because I haven't read the book in like…a month. Which is a long time for me. I'm a fanatic, I know, but whatever. Haha, oh I love exaggerations…Thank you to cutiepiepink angel, steves-girl, krista, clear-sparkle, and hahukum konn!

I woke up in completely different surroundings. I could tell even with my eyes closed that I was in a house and lying down on either a couch or a bed. I hoped it was a couch. I heard someone say, "I think she's coming around," even as my eyes began to flutter open. I saw all the same people standing by the couch I was on that I saw out at the sidewalk. The same very clever actors. Or were they actors? Was I having some kind of nervous breakdown, or could this wild and crazy dream really be true? I didn't have any answers, so I just smiled weakly at them all and tried to sit up.

A gentle hand pushed me back down. "Don't try and sit up yet." I looked over at the owner of the hand and was shocked to be looking into such deep and sweet eyes. It was the guy that would have been Sodapop if this episode that I was having was true. "We think you might have a concussion. You fell pretty hard."

The big guy with the biceps like tennis balls said, "Pony, go get a bag of ice." The second to the smallest one in the group left. The smallest one was the darkest one, with hair that kept falling in his worried and nervous eyes. It was Johnny, I could tell. They were all looking at me strangely, and remembering the things I had said before I passed out, I couldn't really blame them. Right then and there I decided I didn't want to go to the funny farm, even in a dream. I mean, I was in my favorite book - I might as well enjoy it. I would go along with any crazy things these people might say.

"Thanks," I said. "Where am I?"

"You're in my house," said the fake Darrel. He sounded only slightly put off at having to take a stranger into his house. I wondered if it had even been his idea or one of the other boys had had to talk him into it.

"Oh, well sorry to impose. I can leave now if you want, I'm sure I'm fine." I stood up and fought off the dizziness that was blackening my vision. Maybe I really did have a concussion. I took a step forward anyway. Darry put his huge hands on my shoulders and pushed me back to the couch.

"You're not going anywhere. We should be taking you to the hospital, but we don't know anyone here who can pay your bills."

"Well, I'm fine really and if you'll just let me go, I'll be -"

"Here's the ice Darry," said Ponyboy. Darry handed it to me and I put it on the large lump on the side of my head. The pounding seemed to be getting a little better. Before I had felt like a sledgehammer had been banging on the side of my head every other second. "Thank you," I said.

"Is there someone we can take you to?" asked a guy with long, rusty colored sideburns. I supposed he must be Two-Bit.

"Uh…well I'm here because I'm…visiting an aunt." Finally an explanation that seemed to please the gang. They hadn't been satisfied with my story of just being mysteriously transported into a nightmare apparently. "But I can walk, it's really not that far from here. I don't think. What neighborhood am I in?" Not that I knew how to get anywhere. And there obviously wasn't an aunt.

"You're on Sickle Street," said Sodapop.

"Oh. Yeah, she lives just a couple streets down from here."

"Well, I'll be happy to drive you." That was Two-Bit again. And he didn't really look like he would be happy to drive me anywhere. I didn't blame him. I wouldn't want a potential lunatic in my car either.

"Thank you very much, but I think some fresh air might do me good." I stood up again and tried not to sway on my feet. I did anyway and the person that must have been Steve Randall caught me. He was a lot cuter than I had imagined him whenever I read the book.

"Before you go, you might as well stay and have a drink or a bite to eat or something," said Ponyboy. He was being very generous for his shy nature.

"You guys have Pepsi?" A little sugar rush would do well for me, I decided. It might get my head going again. As it was, all of my thoughts were strange and scattered. I needed a Pepsi.

"I think Pony would die if we didn't. I'll go get you some. You boys want anything?" No one said anything, so Soda went into the kitchen.

I was left with a bunch of hostile boys that I didn't know. I was quite frightened, and not in the way that I had been before.

"So you said your name is Sarah?" asked Darry.

"Yes. Sarah Winters. But everyone calls me Sassy." I only hoped that he could sense my gratitude for breaking the tense silence.

"Well, like I said earlier, my name is Darrel Curtis. This is my younger brother Ponyboy, and the one in the kitchen is my other younger brother Sodapop."

"My name is Keith Matthews, but everyone calls me Two-Bit."

"Steven Randall."

Another tense silence. "J-Johnny Cade."

"Dallas Winston."

"Nice to meet y'all." Soda came back with two Pepsis. One for me and one for him. He sat down next to me and gently took away the ice pack.

"Think your aunt can take you to the hospital?" he asked.

"Uh-huh." Lie, lie, lie.

"Good." I drank my Pepsi and the boys kind of looked at each other. There wasn't much to say. Finally, Dallas broke the tension and asked anyone if they wanted to come to the Nightly Double with him. Everyone but Ponyboy and Johnny declined. I knew that was what would happen, but it was so weird actually being in this scene. I mean, I was among the people I had read about fifteen times, and they were having a conversation I had read fifteen times.  
"Johnny, got a cancer stick?" That was Dallas, asking a question I had only seen on paper before. It was the weirdest sensation I had ever had and gave me a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Johnny handed each of the boys a cigarette. Timidly he gestured and asked if I wanted one. I smiled and took one. I didn't smoke often, but once in a while me and my friends would have a cigarette. The smoking took place of the talking and the tension slowly vanished from the room. But not completely. Once my Pepsi and cigarette were gone, I stood. I was a lot more steady on my feet now. I handed the ice pack to Darry and said, "Well, I'd better be going. Thanks again, see ya around." And then I left.

It was much, much later, and beginning to get dark outside when I was done exploring the neighborhood where the Curtis boys lived and the one next to it. Neither were very nice, or very welcoming, and I was a bit wary of not even having my pepper spray with me. But my natural curiosity of this world that had only been between the covers of a book for me took over. I finally found the lot that S.E. Hinton had talked about and spread out my jacket and sat down. The stars were beginning to appear, and I looked up at them as I hugged my knees to my chest. They were sparkling and very pretty, strewn about on that black velvet sky.

A little while later, I heard voices and footsteps. Then I remembered the events that would take place this night. I took my jacket and walked away, to a place on the lot where they wouldn't see me. Johnny and Ponyboy sat down and began smoking and talking. Those boys sure did smoke a lot. They would really get cancer if they weren't careful. But this was 1960, and there were still actual cigarette ads on TV.

They lay down on their backs at one point, and I began to get drowsy. Then I woke up. Ponyboy was gone, but Johnny was sitting and staring up at the stars, knees hugged to chest just I had been before they came. Suddenly remembering where I was and what was about to happen if I didn't do something to prevent it, I went over to Johnny and said, "Boo." He looked up in wild surprise and fright.

"Calm down," I said. "It's just me." I sat down beside him. "You know, Ponyboy is going to come back out here and ask you to run away. Say no, okay? Please, just as favor to me, say no."

"Why?" He looked confused, nervous, and a little scared.

"The Socs that saw you guys with their girls are coming to get you. Don't ask me how I know, I just know, okay? Now please, when Ponyboy comes over here, talk some sense into him. And get out of this lot! They'll be able to find you here as good as anywhere else. You're out in the middle of the open for Pete's sake!"

He just kind of stared at me. Finally, he seemed to digest the information and said, "Why aren't you at your aunt's house?"

What could I say? "Is that all you can think about? The Socs are going to get you! Please, listen to me. Get out while you still can. They are totally drunk and very angry. I've got to go." I ran off. Where _would_ I go? Again, I felt fear. There was no where to go. There was no one to help me. I was all alone, in the middle of a book.


	3. A Place to Go

Disclaimer: I don't own _The Outsiders_ unfortunately, and the fact that the only money I have right now amounts to about sixty-eight cents, I probably never will.

A/N: Hey everyone! Wow, I love writing this story! I should probably update some of my other ones sometime soon, but I keep concentrating on this one because I like doing it so much. Well, anyway, here we go!

I was walking around the streets. It was probably about four in the morning, but I had no where to go. Homeless people stared at me and watched my every move. I would hide behind cars and trash cans whenever a police car rolled by. I didn't want to have any kind of trouble, especially not with the police. Or the fuzz, as I should probably be calling them now. Again I looked up at the stars. They seemed to wink down at me in a reassuring manner. I smiled at them, ignoring the stares. I had been stared at enough for one day, and I found that I didn't really care anymore.

I heard a car roll up behind me. Had I been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't heard it before? Hoping it wasn't a police man, I kept walking. The car stopped and the driver honked the horn. I really didn't want any trouble. Wildly I wondered if it was the Socs looking for Johnny and Ponyboy. I turned around. To my extreme relief, the car was a junker, and certainly no car any Soc would be caught dead driving. But then I wondered if it was some pervert trying to catch up to me and the fear returned. The door opened. I started walking faster.

"Hey Sassy!" I turned around. I couldn't see who it was, but the voice was semi-familiar. I walked closer to see who it was, already chastising myself for being so stupid as to get closer.

It was Two-Bit.

"Hop in," he said.

I went to the passenger side and opened the door.

"Thanks, Two-Bit," I said.

"No problem. What are you doing wandering the streets at this hour. Why aren't you at your aunt's?"

"Um…" Caught in a trap! I was caught! "Well, I came to surprise her, but it turns out she's moved and I don't know where she is."

"So you'll be leaving soon?" he asked.

"Well, no. I don't have anywhere else to go." At least that was the truth. I hated lying.

"What about your folks? Where are they?"

"Dead." Also the truth. My parents had died two years ago in a car crash.

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Two-Bit, actually sounding a little bit sorry. That was nice of him. I was sure I would be annoyed by Two-Bit sooner rather than later before I finally got to leave this strange and very realistic delusion, but so far he had been nothing but nice to me. I was extremely thankful.

"Thank you. What are you doing?"

"Oh, just cruisin I guess."

"At four in the morning?"

"Well, I just gave Dally a drive over to Buck Merril's. Tim Shephard found out it was Dally who had slashed his tires and broke a couple of Dally's ribs.

"So where you planning on staying now?" asked Two-Bit.

"I don't know. I really don't have a clue. Maybe I'll sleep in that vacant lot or something until something better comes along."

Two-Bit stopped the car. A little surprised that he had stopped, I looked out the window to see where we were. Surely, nothing could be open this early in the morning. I was even more surprised to see we were back outside of the Curtis house.

Two-Bit hopped out of the car. He came back out grinning, Darry right behind him.

Two-Bit opened the door for me, and I hopped out.

"Two-Bit says you need a place to stay," said Darry. I blushed furiously. Was that what Two-Bit was doing?

"Yeah, but I'm not looking to impose on you guys. I mean, I really can just sleep in the lot, I don't mind. It's not even that cold!" I was actually shivering almost uncontrollably.

Darry just grinned in a bemused kind of way. "You want to sleep all by yourself in a vacant lot in this neighborhood?" Gee, when he put it that way… "You won't be imposing. One of the boys is always at our house. Just come on in and we'll make arrangements for you until you find out what you're going to do."

"That's a very nice offer for you to make, but it's really too much -"

"Nonsense. My conscience won't let me let you sleep in the vacant lot, so think of it as doing _me_ a favor." Wow, Darry was just as nice as Two-Bit. They were all very nice. Nice enough to make me a little bit suspicious, but not enough to try and turn down Darry's offer again.

"Well, thank you." The three of us just kind of stood there in awkward silence for a few seconds and then Two-Bit finally piped up.

"All right, well I saw a Texaco up the way and I want a root beer. See you two kids later.

He took off, and I followed Darry into the house. The lights were all off, and it was very dark, and very quiet. He flicked on the living room light and pointed to the couch. "You can sleep there. I'll get you some blankets." He turned to leave the room.

"Uh, Darry?"

He turned around. "Yeah?"

"Thanks again." He just grinned and left.

When he returned, I had taken off my shoes and taken the rubber band out of my hair.

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

"See ya in the morning."

"Good night."

I put the folded blanket on the couch, then stared at the thing I should be sleeping on. I knew already that I wouldn't be able to sleep. My nerves were way to frazzled to be able to deal with anything as calm as sleeping. Seeing that the rooms were separated fairly well from the kitchen, I decided to do something useful and do the dishes. I donned the yellow gloves and ran hot water and used a lot of dish soap. It looked like these guys hadn't done dishes for a month. Some of it was so crusted on I had to ply it off with some kind of fork or spoon. Which often bent.

Finally, after having done the dishes, mopped the floor, dusted the living room and kitchen, it was time for the rest of the world to wake up. I hurriedly put away all of the cleaning utensils I had used and ran to the living room. I hurled myself on the couch, threw the blanket over myself, and closed my eyes. I heard a doorknob turning somewhere, and thanked my lucky stars I had been so quick. I hated explaining to people about my chronic insomnia.

I opened my eyes a slit to see who in this house was up at five in the morning. It was Darry of course. Why hadn't I guessed? He was trying to be very quiet in the living room, which I thought very considerate of him. I sat up, folded the blanket, and pulled my hair back again. Might as well be useful and help him make breakfast.

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	4. Changing a Murderer

Disclaimer: I don't own _The Outsiders_. Do any of you?

A/N: Hello everyone! If you read my Fruits Basket stuff too, you'll know that I'm late getting back to this because of vacation and the start of school. Which I like right now, because we're only coming to the end of the second week. Not even the second week since I missed the first two days and only went to school on Friday. (School started here on a Wednesday). And this week we have a three day weekend which is completely and totally awesome. Labor day you know. I guess everyone has a three day weekend! Happy Labor Day everyone! (We're having a meat sale here, are you? I'll bet you're jealous of our meat sale. Seriously, why would someone put up a sign for a meat sale on a high school bulletin? What high schooler cares about meat sales? Sometimes I just don't understand people's reasoning.) I always ramble during these because I have so much to say and don't have the sense to go to that thingamabobber right above the stories. I should go there soon because I really do have a lot to say to everyone. Well anyway, without further ado, THE STORY!

I took over scrambling the eggs and told Darry to just get the chocolate cake out. Soda came out not long after and I put down his chocolate milk and eggs with jelly. He beamed up at me, not even thinking to ask how I knew he liked jelly in his scrambled eggs. Darry took his eggs and left, apologizing he wouldn't be able to stay and explaining that he still had to go to work. I told him not to worry about it and sat down. That was when I realized something very vital in this picture was missing. Ponyboy.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, Sodapop asked, "Have you seen Ponyboy? He didn't come home last night, not that I know. I thought he might have come in in the morning and told you where he'd be." When I shook my head, he started to look worried.

After we finished breakfast, he went to the phone and called what I assumed was one of the gang's numbers. Obviously he couldn't call Darry to ask if he'd seen Ponyboy on his cell-phone because - and this is just a guess here - they might not have cell phones in 1960. Not that I wasn't blonde enough for that thought to have crossed my mind for a second.

"Hey Mrs. Cade. Is Johnny there?" Pause. "All right, thanks." He hung up, a confused and even more worried look on his perfect features. He dialed another number and put the receiver to his ear.

"Hey Two-Bit. Seen Johnny or Ponyboy? Pony's been missing since last night and Johnny isn't home." Pause. "All right. Do you have any idea where they would be?" Pause. "Why try Buck's?" Pause. "Oh, Dally's there. I really don't want to talk to Buck though, especially since he's probably having a hangover." I prayed that Johnny and Ponyboy hadn't tried to run away again during another pause. "All right, thanks Two-Bit." He hung up the phone and dialed yet another number.

"Hello? This is Sodapop Curtis. Put Dallas Winston on the line." There was another pause and I assumed whoever it was on the other line was taking the phone to Dallas. "Hey Dally. Stop cussin for a second and listen to me. Are Ponyboy and Johnny there?" Relief was so acute on his face, I thought for a second he would pass out. "Great. Tell them to get over here _now_. Bye." He hung up the phone and looked at me, a broad grin on his face.

"Dally said there comin!" I smiled in relief too. For whatever reason they were at Buck's instead of here, they weren't in a church or on a train. No one had been killed, or I could assume that much. Nothing terribly awful had happened.

In about fifteen minutes, a junker car pulled in front of the house and Dallas, Johnny, and Ponyboy all came out. Johnny and Ponyboy had very guilty looks on their faces and Dallas was wearing his regular scowl. They came in and Soda immediately gave Ponyboy a hug, and then almost as an afterthought, gave Johnny one too. I refrained myself from hugging and kissing everyone. They weren't going to jail! Johnny wasn't going to die!

"You had us worried sick! Where were you?" Soda asked Ponyboy.

Pony opened his mouth to speak, his ears turning red. "After Darry hit me, I ran to the lot and saw Johnny asleep. I woke him up and asked him to run away. Told him we had to. I was crying by then. Johnny got this really weird look on his face, and he said no. He said he'd walk me home." Johnny just sort of nodded and got all red in the face. He chanced a quick glance at me, but quickly looked away, an aloof look on his face. "We were almost here when we saw the Socs. They were really drunk and very scary. They looking like they were going to beat us up. We ran until we were almost lost. I asked Johnny where we should go and we decided we'd better find Dallas. We spent the night at Buck Merril's."

"And you didn't think once to call?" asked Soda. He didn't sound mad, but he sounded disappointed instead, which I could tell made Ponyboy feel worse than he would have if it had been Darry yelling at him instead.

I decided to say something. "Maybe they were just sort of shooken up. I know if that had happened to me, I probably wouldn't have thought to call anyone."

They all stared at me, Johnny and Ponyboy looking a little appreciative. Soda nodded his head and said I had a valid point and I told myself not to blush, not to blush, don't kiss Soda, don't kiss Soda. "But you know Darry might be mad." Pony nodded and then things kind of went back to normal. Sort of.

Two-Bit came in around noon and the seven of us sat around playing poker. I took half of the winnings to my side at the end of the game, and the other six had to divide what was left and what they had amongst themselves. Two-Bit gave me an admiring look. "You play a good game of cards," he said. I smiled and thanked him. My grandpa had been teaching me how since I was eight. Dallas scowled and mumbled something, then left the room.

"Aw, don't mind him. He's just sore because he lost," Sodapop explained. "He's usually the best hand at poker, and you just beat him sorry." I put the winnings back on the table and told everyone to take it. They looked at me strangely and then told me to keep it myself. When they asked me if I had any money and I realized the only money I had was twenty dollars, I decided maybe I should keep it. So I stuffed it all in a pillowcase which would have to make do as a purse until further arrangements could be made.

Dallas came back out and we all sort of vegged out. Darry came home and there was some yelling which was when Johnny, Dallas, and Two-Bit decided to leave. I asked if I could get in one of their cars and Two-Bit explained he couldn't. He had to go pick up his mom and if his mom saw him with a girl he would be fried. (He had just broken up with a girl and his mom said she liked him to have a little decency and wait at least two weeks before picking up another one). "And besides, you're not blonde. I have a strict no-non-blonde's in the back seat of my car." He gave me a grin, and left. That left me with Johnny and Dallas. I sort of pawed at the concrete sidewalk with the toe of my shoe until Dallas groaned and said I could get in his car. I smiled and the three of us got in. Dallas drove to Johnny's home.

I knew what to expect. I knew when Johnny opened the door to go inside, he wasn't going to get worried parents who would hug and kiss him. He wouldn't get someone to yell at him for not calling. Believe it or not, teenagers really do need someone to ground them for running away and causing trouble. They need someone to worry, they need someone to love them. Johnny had no one. Before he got out of the car, I gave him one of my Sassy-hugs. That is to say, I crushed the crap out of him. "Thank you," I whispered in his ear. "For not running away." He just turned red and got out of the car.

Dallas lit up a cigarette before starting the car. "What was that about?" he asked.

"Oh…just nothing." Dallas started the car and we drove around in silence for a bit.

"You plannin on goin to school?" he asked me. School…I had always wondered what school would be like in the 1960s. But did I really want to go? Yes. Homework might be homework, but from a different age in time it certainly wasn't. ((Haha, that makes no sense)).

"I don't know," I answered, even though I did. "I think so, but I still don't really know what I'm doing. My aunt's gone, my parents are dead, I…ran away from my last foster family." Also the truth. That's why I had been going to Seattle. The foster parents had been completely unbearable. "I have no where to go." The truth hit me. I had no where to go. I didn't know how to get out of this crazy world, and a part of me that was growing with every hour didn't want to.

"Darry, Sodapop, and Ponyboy wouldn't mind if you stayed with them longer," he said, lighting yet another cigarette. He offered me one and I declined.

"I don't want to impose."

He grinned and told me I wasn't. "There are always so many boys on that couch, I don't know how you stand the stench of it."

I said, "There is a hint of B.O." He looked at me strangely and I said, "Body Odor." He laughed, actually laughed. Well, it was more of a snort accompanied by a grin, but I liked to pretend it was a laugh. Imagine the look on Sally's face when I told her I had made Dallas Winston laugh? She would probably try sending me to the funny farm. Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut on that little victory.

And that was when we crashed.

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